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Medical Tech, Phone App Companies Partner on Wound Care

By Alan, on January 12th, 2018

(Pexels.com)

12 January 2018. A company making wound care products is collaborating with a developer of mobile apps and analytics to design a more advanced diagnostics system for wounds. While Mölnlycke Health Care in Gothenburg, Sweden is taking a minority equity stake in Tissue Analytics Inc. in Baltimore, further financial details about the partnership were not disclosed.

Mölnlycke is a maker of medical technologies including surgical equipment and dressings for pressure ulcers, as well as specialized wound care products. Among the company’s offerings is a device for large and complex wounds using sub-atmospheric pressure to stimulate wound healing in a closed system that also transports fluids from the wound to a separate canister. This negative pressure wound therapy, says Mölnlycke, when combined with its controlled fluid management system, makes it possible to treat large and multiple wounds with a single system.

Tissue Analytics is a five year-old spin-off enterprise from Johns Hopkins University, founded by biomedical engineering and medical school graduates. The company makes a mobile app, available in iPhone and Android versions, that allows patients to take a photo of the wound, which is then automatically measured and analyzed by the app’s software. The analysis uses artificial intelligence, including computer vision algorithms, to calculate area and percentages of tissues in the wound area. The app, says the company, can be used for venous and diabetic skin ulcers, pressure injuries, surgical wounds, and burns.

Data from the app are then uploaded to a cloud database, where physicians can track healing progress and generate reports on healing progress, costs, and product efficacy. The data can also be integrated into major electronic health record systems. Tissue Analytics maintains the data as well for long-term and aggregate analysis. In addition, the company says the technology is advantageous for clinical trials, since the app can capture data more precisely and consistently, allowing for faster data collection and fewer participants.

Under the agreement, the companies will further develop the Tissue Analytics systems, including extensive clinical tests, to combine Mölnlycke’s experience in wound healing with Tissue Analytics’s work in data analysis and management. No timetable was announced for release of products from the collaboration.

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